1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet processing apparatus which is a peripheral device of an image-forming apparatus such as a printer, a copy machine, and a printing machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an image-forming apparatus such as a copy machine, a printer, and a multi-function peripheral, a sheet processing apparatus is provided detachably. For example, as the image-forming apparatus is made work online, a copy machine or a printer has been widely used in which an image is formed on a sheet on the basis of image data transmitted from a host computer such as a personal computer through a communication line such as a LAN, and post-processing is performed with respect to the sheets with an image formed thereon, such as binding the sheets with a stapler, punching the sheets, folding the sheets, and the like (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-120284).
The sheet processing apparatus may include a sheet buffer device in which sheets are loaded on a step and the sheets are discharged with the leading end of each sheet being separated from the next sheet with a predetermined interval to the sheet conveyance path. For example, the sheet buffer device includes a binder for binding the sheets discharged from the image-forming apparatus, a complier for causing the loaded sheets to wait prior to the binding processing, a sheet conveyance path for conveying the sheets to the complier or the like, and a stacker for discharging and loading the bound sheets outside the apparatus.
In such a typical sheet processing apparatus, conveyance of the sheets on the sheet conveyance path is interrupted, and a standby state is maintained while the sheets are aligned on the complier and bound using a binder. Therefore, in the typical sheet processing apparatus of the related art, since conveyance of the sheets is interrupted so that the loaded sheets are aligned and bound, the work efficiency of the sheet processing apparatus may be degraded due to the interrupt time, and the processing speed may be delayed.